What happens after diagnosis?

[AlpacalypseLlamaggedon]

Hi all, brand new to this topic.

DD15 was diagnosed with autism and ADHD yesterday. Apparently it is a perfect balance, so they cancel each other out in some circumstances.
We never had any concerns with her until the end of year 9, when she started getting in trouble at school.
Year 10 has been a nightmare of school refusal, leading to a cycle of Truanting / IR / Suspended. She has probably attended around a dozen lessons in the entire academic year.
The local authority are threatening me with fines/legal action due to her attendance. She has gone missing numerous times, always jumping the fence at school. We have had to have the police involved on more than one occasion as she has been missing for nearly 24 hours.
School are threatening permanent exclusion, we have requested a managed move. Despite us reporting our suspicions about DD being ND back in year 9, no flexibility has been offered. I was told in a meeting with the principal that she was the number one problem child in the school. Although the SLT are on a first name basis with me, I doubt the SEND team could pick her up out of a line up.

I'm trying to keep this short, but failing. We won't get the official report from the clinic until a few weeks, I have emailed the school to inform them of the results of the assessment, and asked them to make allowances but have heard nothing back.

Where do I go from here? My ultimate goal is to get DD back in to lessons and hopefully scrape a few GCSE's. She is very bright, but lost all trust with school. I feel guilty for not pushing this earlier, I feel I have failed her. The school are definitely failing her.

Once again, sorry for the length of this post but this is all new to me.

[Headfirstintothewild]

Support In schools is based on needs, not diagnosis, so being diagnosed on its own won’t result in additional support.

However, it sounds like DD needs far more support and the school has failed in their duty to make their best endeavours to meet DD’s SEN. Has an EHCNA been requested? Have you spoken to the SENCO?  How often is DD’s EBSA? Is the ‘truanting’ actually DD unable to cope in school? Is alternative provision in place?

[AlpacalypseLlamaggedon]

Thank you for replying.

The school are pretty useless, most of DD's infractions are due to either poor communication by the school or incidents where she is either denied a toilet pass or has one and it is ignored.
I'm aware that the truanting is actually EBSA but they keep saying she is truanting. I have contacted the SENCO, but so far heard nothing back.
The school until now have just kept repeating that she was fine in years 8, 9, and 10, so should be able to cope.

[Headfirstintothewild]

Request an EHCNA yourself using IPSEA’s model letter. Also request alternative provision under s.19 of the Education Act 1996 using one of IPSEA’s other model letters.

If the SENCO is ignoring you complain to the HT and then follow the complaints procedure if that doesn’t work. Remind them, under s.66 CAFA 2014, they must make their best endeavours to meet DD’s SEN.

Challenge the school on not authorising absences. Email the school and copy in the LA reminding them the DfE’s attendance guidance states absences should be recorded as authorised where pupils cannot attend due to illness (both physical and mental health related). Also, the regulations (Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006) make it clear where a pupil is absent because they are unable to attend due to their medical needs the absence must be regarded as authorised. 

Go on to say since alternative education under s.19 of the Education Act 1996 is not in place, an EHCNA has not been requested and the school is not providing SEN support that meets DD’s needs the school and LA could have done and still can do more to support DD with her needs arising from her MH/SEN. 

[AlpacalypseLlamaggedon]

Honestly, I can't thank you enough.

Like I said, I am all new to this, and honestly bloody exhausted trying to advocate for my daughter.
I will take all your advice on board. Quite frankly, this is the first time in a long time I have felt there is someone actually in my corner, so thank you so much.

[Anonymouslyikes]

Personally I dont expect you'll get any support. Your request for educational needs assessment will probably be refused. Either make friends with someone who knows how to fight the paperwork, or resign yourself to the fact that the diagnosis was worth nothing.
Permanent exclusion can lead to help, but at 15 that's unlikely to happen.
Keep advocating.
Be your daughter's best friend. Look for opportunities she might enjoy and encourage her to try out new things. It doesn't matter if she doesn't get GCSEs now, there is funding available for people to catch up later if they're "NEET". Wellbeing over academic achievements. Count what matters x